A Guide to Fieldrunners Cheats, Tricks & Tips on iPhone

The Basics

Fieldrunners, unlike other tower defense games like Tap Defense, allows you to control the runner's paths. Manipulating this mechanic is key to progressing in the game. But before you can make use of any Fieldrunners cheats or tips, you'll need an understanding of how different objects and troops interact. So, let's get to know your units.

First, you need to know your towers. There are six varieties, the last two of which are unlocked with the medium difficulty level. Managing your money versus the field type will go a long way to improving your game. You'll earn money by taking down enemies, which you can use to upgrade these towers — these can be upgraded multiple times.

Gatling Tower ($5) – Continuous, but weak, attack ability and has a short range.

There are three field types to play on. Each has its own charms, so you'll need to determine which works best for your preferred play style.

Grasslands – Enemies cross from left to right on an open battlefield.

Drylands – This screen has three entry points, from top to bottom. Each one, from top to bottom proceeds left to right.

Crossroads – An indoor setting, where you must defend against enemies coming from the top to the bottom of the screen in addition to left and right.

The Rat Race

The most basic strategy, upon which all other tower defense games are based, is maze building. Like rats in a maze, you want to take the fieldrunners on the longest possible walk to get to their destination. It's usually best to start by sending them one direction across the map, then U-turn back again, and repeat the process as far as you can. Use your towers to build these paths.

Gatling towers are your best choice for wall-building, not only because they're the cheapest, but they also provide continuous attack damage; it's quantity over quality in this case. Make sure that you leave room for your other tower types as you build.

A Time for Everything, and Everything in Its Place

Proper build order is the trick to not only getting your game off to a good start, but also surviving a lengthy assault. Once you've got the maze going, start building Missile towers. They'll take care of any airborne enemies. Try to build them in-between the gates for maximum effectiveness. If you're playing on medium or hard, you'll want to use Lightening towers instead, as they pack a bigger punch for the now tougher units.

Next should come the Goo towers. As the waves of fieldrunners gets larger, you'll need to slow their pace so you have the time to mow them down. Space your Goo towers so that the enemy units are slowed down during their entire journey through your maze. Try to not overlap their areas of effect, though, lest you waste resources.

Now, when you find the time and or cash as the early game progresses, it's a good idea to set up your tower of last resort. Place the tower of your choice — depending on the map and enemy unit type — next to your gate to finish off any fieldrunners who may have survived your gauntlet. One, or two if you can manage it, should suffice.

Finally, if you've timed everything correctly, you should have the money to build Lightening towers. These are essential for taking out more powerful units that you encounter at higher levels, such as Blips and Tanks.

As larger groups of enemies clump together, you'll now have to start to think about doing “splash” damage. This knocks groups apart, making them easier to kill. Place a tower that does “splash” damage, preferably with at least one near the center of the map, and others on the outside corners of the map. These, you'll want to overlap in range, because they're long range damage only. Keep in mind that where you place your tower is not where it will be causing damage.

To Infinity and Beyond

OK, so you've got the core strategy down, but still having trouble passing a certain level? Since the game was patched, Fieldrunners cheats and tricks that depended on glitch exploits have disappeared, but there is one method still available. Try building an “endless” maze by using the computer's AI against itself. This will only work with ground troops, of course, but they should be relatively simple to handle with this trick.

Build your maze with corridors winding left to right and back, concentrating your Goo and Lightening towers in the center of the middle horizontal corridor. Now, you'll want to pause after the enemy passes it, but before the units get to the area labeled “2.” When you pause, delete tower 1 and place a new Gatling tower where the 2 is, blocking the path.

This will force the units all the way back to the beginning, where you'll pause again, reversing the process by putting the tower back in its original location. This will turn them around to head back again. You can repeat this as long as needed, juggling the units back and forth until dead. Just make sure you're reset to the first configuration before the next wave arrives.

General Tips

Create a save point. The game saves as you go along, but by creating your own save points you can go back and try different tactics. This will allow you to hone your skills even further!

Remember to keep on your upgrades. Goo towers are especially important as the number of units increase, as each tower can only slow down so many units. Upgraded Goo will handle the load better, especially if you're low on “splash” damage towers.